On the Court
by Kirschavoc
Summary: Volleyball AU. In which Sakura Mikan insists that having a crush on Hyuuga Natsume was in the past. Anyways, she has matured and thinks her past behaviors when her 'Natsu-senpai' was around was quite... embarrassing. (Prologue)
1. 00 Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Gakuen Alice does not belong to me but Higuchi Tachibana, the mangaka. Just lemme borrow her creations for the sake of fanfiction writing.

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><p><em>On the Court<em>

**Prologue**

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><p><em>Not all things have sentimental value to us. There are things we have considered just a piece of junk at the moment but one look at it again, it contains memories that are somehow connected to us. Just a simple dress when we were a little child, unbeknownst to us, our parents adored us so much—thinking we beat those typical cute things because we are the cutest. Too bad, it would no longer fit. The dress' destination would be burned, donated, or kept in memory of your childhood. There are things when we probably want to kick our past self for doing this and that, like, how we desperately deleted all those embarrassing posts on our accounts in social networking sites. I was so incredibly stupid back then, I would say. But it defines who we were. Really.<em>

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><p>Her childish yet long fingers are like feather duster, wiping off the dusts that have pooled on the surface of the thing in her grasp. The imagination of hers has gone wild, pondering that it could be some ancient books that were buried but made its way through the large box of her old stuffs. The thing looks familiar, she realizes. Digits are found, written in a black ink although the writing is quite unclear considering the year she probably penned those digits. There are two of them, both have almost similar digits. She has just found two hardbound notebooks. She realizes that those digits are the year she had used them. It is like a nightmare seeing them. She drops the notebooks. She has stumbled again to the molders of her past years, if she were a clay.<p>

She has just found her diaries, her diaries during her first two years in junior high school.

She has quite a fond memory of her junior high, it was fun. She wasn't the best student class but she was an average student. She didn't really fail on class (except on Math) but she had balanced her studies and volleyball. Yes, Mikan Sakura was part of Alice Junior High School girls' volleyball team.

"Let's see if there would be something interesting," she mumbles to herself as she started skimming through her diary in her first year.

_Dear Diary, _

_I was walking around in the school yard when I saw the boys' volleyball team playing under the sun. I don't understand why they were playing there but I was pretty sure I had passed the volleyball gym few minutes ago. The guy with a star-shaped tattoo in his goofy face served (that is what they call it, right?) and it came in like some speedy ball from the baseball game and I swear the ball would have landed on my face. And there was this dude who was as tall as I am saved me. Well, not really. He just happened to be there. But anyway, I'm so thankful he saved me! I thanked him and he looked so cute and familiar. The coached called him Uuga or something and I think he's part of the team. I wonder what his position is. Probably for the short ones, haha._

Mikan places her right palm in her face, she just can't hide her embarrassment.

'_I was so stupid_,' Mikan rolls on the floor, kicking her feet alternately on the floor.

She scans through the next pages and this reads:

_Dear Diary,_

_I finally know who that person iiiis! He's already in his second year and he plays for the team. His name is Hyuuga Natsume , Aoi's older brother. No wonder he looked so familiar. Why didn't Aoi mention that he has a cute older brother? I think I have a crush on him, it's been a while anyway. This summer break, I'll be learning volleyball. I can't really wait!_

Mikan remembers the time she asked Aoi. Aoi just replied, _"I did tell you I have a brother but I didn't mention he's cute because I think he isn't."_ Her memory is still clear how Aoi's voice sounded and her expression was like.

It must really wrong labeling her Hyuuga-senpai cute. According to her best friend, Hotaru,_ 'Males in my class hate it when they are called cute. Hyuuga must be the same, I guess.'_

Her thoughts are halted when she heard someone knocking on her door. The sound of the knock of a wooden door has reverberated around her room filled with dust as she is in the middle of cleaning. Lazily, she forces her feet all the way to the door. It is her mom, worried and confused.

"Mikan, are you okay?" Her mom, with an apron and a spatula in hand, says in a concerned way, caressing her forehead to check whether her temperature is normal or not.

"I'm okay, Mom," she answers sweetly.

"Turn on the lights, sweety. Even though it's 11 a.m., you need to see clearly for you are cleaning."

"Yes, Mom," she nods in assurance.

And her mom leaves, completely assured.

She continues her cleaning, wiping off the dust and placing her unnecessary stuffs inside the large box. Maybe it won't be so bad to keep her diaries on her desk instead of the box.

Next week will be another chapter of her life. High school. She will start again in Alice Academy.

And oh, her _ex-crush_ Hyuuga Natsume is also a student of that school.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> I finally have a new plot in mind. I love writing prologues but I can't just manage to continue for some reason. And like every time I open this account, my username is always different. Ugh. Hope you follow and review, guys! I know it's short. By the way, please check out my other story though I kinda lost the drive to continue it. About this story, I already have the events planned!

_Kirschavoc, 141223 (08:39 p.m.) _

You can call me** Jean**, by the way.


	2. 01 Club Day

**On the Court**

Chapter 01

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><p>Two weeks have passed, Mikan Sakura got used to her new environment, Alice Academy. Alice Academy is a high school institution under the Alice Schools System. Alice Schools System has Alice Elementary School, Alice Junior High School, Alice Academy, Alice University, and Alice Medical School. Mikan wonders if she would be studying in one of the Alice Schools in her entire student life. That's pretty much boring but she got accustomed to the Alice's way, she might get a Loyalty Award if she would graduate in Alice University.<p>

"Welcome to Alice Academy Club Day! In this club day, recognized clubs will be given a chance to promote their own clubs to all students of this academy. After which, you will be allowed to visit the clubrooms and the gyms under the supervision of two club representatives for each club. Thank you and let's proceed to the event's main course."

To Mikan, she has heard a lengthy speech just like his lengthy hair from the student council president, Sakurano, which is not really necessary for her to listen. The point of Sakurano-kaichou's speech was really short yet he did use some fancy words to lengthen his opening remarks. Mikan is one of the numerous students of the academy, seated on the auditorium to witness the clubs' promotion. Students are arranged by year level and class, all of them are probably wondering what club to join.

"So Mikan," Hyuuga Aoi nudges her elbow, breaking the silence she feels within herself. "What club are you joining?"

She replies after a three-second pause, "I don't know really. Maybe I'll join the volleyball team?" She looks at Aoi with her confused look, with the 'team' word proves that she is really unsure based on the way she spoke it.

"Just so you know, nii-chan's in the team. I did never think he loves volleyball that much," Aoi informs with a grin on her face, shrugging her shoulders in a slow motion.

"Your point? Come on, Aoi. Stop teasing me. I don't have a crush on your brother anymore. It's actually embarrassing to see him again. I was such an idiot back then, I bet I was his laughing stock in his junior high years. Why did I ever do those things?"

Then Aoi has her eyes on the stage, watching intently on the little performance presented to the audience. Mikan takes that Aoi didn't hear what she said, the explanation will be later.

Different clubs with different gimmicks are offered to them. The drama club offered a presentation that captured the audience's heart. The cooking club gave homemade cookies to the audience; one person from the crowd even said, "Are you bribing us with food? I guess it's somehow working." The president of the said club chuckled, but frowned when someone shouted, "I'll join your club as long as I could eat your cooking for free!" There were a lot of other gimmicks but Mikan didn't find it amusing. For example, in front of the unwarned crowd, the Alice Swimmers' Team's boys stripped suddenly, displaying their muscles with their swimming trunks and goggles on. Eyes from the female audience were immediately covered, Aoi did blush a bit. The disciplinary committee head quickly enforced the club for the indecency.

"I thought Alice Junior High is the only one with the weird clubs of all Alice Schools, this is much worse," Aoi comments after seeing Paper Club, Sleep Club, I-Want-To-Go-Home-Right-Now club, and even Natsume-Ruka fan club.

Mikan is about to answer when—

"And now, for the Alice Academy Volleyball Team." The members, boys and girls, are lined up all the way to the stage's center.

"Aoi, is that Hotaru?" Mikan asks.

"A pleasant day to all of us, Alices. I am Imai Hotaru, the team's manager. We are the newly reformed volleyball team of this school, as you can see. Last school year, boys and girls were separate clubs. But now, both sexes are united, leading into much stronger force as we help each other to utilize our skills and bringing the best in each other," Hotaru speaks in a reserved tone, gazing at the audience with persuasion in her eyes like some pro speaker.

"Hotaru-san seems to be good at this stuff," Aoi mumbles to herself. "Look Mikan, there's my brother!"

Mikan follows the direction where Aoi's finger is pointed to. He seems bored like the usual, she notices. She then looks away.

"I'm so gonna join this club! Now that it's a unisex club, I can finally see Nogi-san, Hyuuga-san and Sono-senpai much longer!" Mikan hears it from a squealing student, probably a fangirl.

"And by the way," Hotaru continues. "We have a new head coach and the coach is none other than Jinno-sensei. Anju Narumi is still the club adviser though. You have nothing to worry about. I look forward seeing you applicants with your application form. Thank you for your time."

"Aww that sucks, man! Why could he be the coach when he's talking about numbers and formulae for daily basis?"

"Jinno-sensei? What?"

"What was that club thinking?"

"Where's the previous head coach?"

"Are they joking? I bet he'll teach about the parabola and stuff of the ball"

Mikan hears those statements clearly, they somehow affect her in an ambiguous way. "Aoi, I think I might reconsider my plan about joining the club."

"I thought my brother does affect you no more. Why?"

"That's not the reason. I think that the coach is the math teacher. And you know, me and math…?"

"Okay, I get it. I will still join though. I can teach you, anyway. After all, we are finally classmates, so it is much easier to keep tabs on you and math," Aoi pats Mikan's shoulder.

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><p>Mikan isn't actually enthusiastic being inside the volleyball gym. She can feel the heat of the sun slipping through the gym's windows made of glass. The sunlight makes the floor shiny, in which one could probably his or her own reflection; the floating dusts are also visible enough because of the light. The gym isn't exactly packed as the auditorium, however, Mikan sense that a lot of them wants to be part of the team. The applicants, well Mikan herself isn't sure if she would consider herself as an applicant, squat in front of some of the club's members. They are having a briefing, announcements are about to given even though they aren't official members yet.<p>

The scratching sound of the lapel signaled the start of the briefing, with Hotaru nearing it in her mouth.  
>"All of you are gathered, as you took interest to join our little team, really. I'll go to the point right away. One must take the try out before becoming an official member. Previous members of this club are exempted, of course. There are five drills to test your abilities in playing this sport. Those drills are serving, passing, setting, spiking, and blocking. We decided to drop the digging drill. You guys need to pass at least three drills. Good luck," she announces, still with that tone of hers where monotonous would be the best description.<p>

"You heard that Aoi? How could I possibly enter the team if I'm only good at passing? They could have at least include digging," Mikan whispered, her words are fast but full of worries.

"I know, it's not like I'm good at blocking either. At least you can jump high," Aoi looks at her.

"The tryouts will start tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. No reservations. First come, first serve." Hotaru grabs the pink-haired lady in the arm, "This girl right here will be the registrar. Go to her first on the day of the tryouts for enlistment so we could keep track who's first and next."

"Good morning! Harada Misaki here," she bows as she introduces herself. "Please bring your application forms with you."

Hotaru's arms carries a rim of paper, placing it on the shelf located at the nearest table. Distress is all over her face, after all, boys of her club are present but they didn't even bother to lend her a hand. Taken aback, Misaki hands Hotaru the lapel with no hesitation. Then Hotaru continues, "The try outs will last until next week. Any questions?"

A boy in the middle raises his right hand, "What is the procedure of the tryouts? Do we have to wait for the first applicant to accomplish all the drills or….?"

"Good question. Nope. The first five applicants will be distributed. The first one will do serving, while the second one will do passing, until the fifth one will do blocking. All of those drill will be done at the same time, but different applicants though. After they're finished with the drill, they'll proceed to the next one," answers the guy with a star-shaped tattoo. He didn't use any voice amplifier but he's loud and clear.

'_Is that goofy-face?'_ Mikan asks herself inaudibly to Aoi and everyone else.

"Any other questions?" goofy-faced asks.

"Are we going to see Hyuuga-san and Nogi-san?" The girl located at the front asks, not even raising her hand.

"I'm not sure about Ruka. But Natsume will handle one of the drills," Miksaki answers firsts before goofy-faced has a chance.

The giggling sound of some girls are quite audible to everyone.

"So questions?"

No one raised their hand.

"Okay. Check out our practice game later this dismissal," Misaki informs.

The students rise up from their sitting position, completely nervous, some of them, just like Mikan, pondering if it would be the right choice to join the club after hearing the briefing. The tryouts are a tradition of any sports-related clubs of Alice Academy, the volleyball team is kind of picky this year, perhaps it is because of Jinno-sensei. Although, they did not fail to get an application form on the desk.

"Aoi, I'm quite unsure about this," Mikan tells her nervously.

"It will just be fine."

That was not Aoi's voice, Mikan knows. She and Aoi look behind their backs to see the voice's owner.

"You're Sakura Mikan-san, right? Please join the tryouts."

All they see is Misaki bowing to them, her hair hangs like vines, swaying with the wind in a closed area.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>I hope this is lengthy enough! Thank you for the reviews, follows, and faves! I'm actually happy to know that there are people who are reading this. Please review, like the usual. I desperately want to know what you think about this and if you ever spot some mistakes (grammar, usage, spelling etc.), please don't hesitate to add it on your review. And yeah, I'll be talking about volleyball as one of its main theme. Don't worry, I'll include the definition if ever there will be terms involved.

**Anyway, any volleyball fans among my readers? Can you guess her position in volleyball during junior high school? Please comment your guesses on the review box!**

It may be somehow annoying but I'll really include the honorifics for in depth of the characters' relationship to each other. In case you do not know what they mean, here's the link:

please read: ** (slash) pmwiki (slash) (slash) UsefulNotes (slash) JapaneseHonorifics?from (equals) **

Just remove the spaces and type the following symbols in the parenthesis.

**Merry Christmas to us all!**

_Kirschavoc, 141225_


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